The Poetry Marathon

Hour 2: Ringing the Bell at Church

Hour 2: Ringing the Bell at Church

 

Sitting in silence as the bell rings.

Memories not my own.

Four minutes for Floyd.

Four minutes for 400 years of slavery

in America.

 

Its echo shakes loose tears for the suffering and oppression—

their story and the story of my own people.

 

The bell rings by the hands of all the ages

by the growing brown hands of my sons

the Jew and Friend

Christian and Witch.

 

It hardly seems long enough

as muscles burn on the rope.

Over and over and over

the bell rings.

 

Listen

Listen

LISTEN

 

A message too often silenced

with the privilege to forget.

Recipe for staying sane during covid

1. An abundance of patience and hope.
2. Communication with precious friends and family members
3. A walk in the park or a zoom workout
4. Keeping gainfully employed
5. High-fat takeout or cooking

It’s hard to find the right mixture to get through this plague
Only the right recipe will fight this feeling so doomful and vague
You’ll have to summon bountiful hopeful thoughts and keep good cheer
Sprinkle in some daily talks with friends and family to keep your head clear
Add a little exercise with some hope in the park to escape the days kept in
Or a dash of a workout online with patience to keep spirits high and body thin
But it’s also important to flavor the secret sauce with a steady job
Because an income and staying busy are keys to surviving this malaise
To keep your thoughts occupied in the worst of those long cloudy days
As needed, throw in a small amount of fatty food and sinful booze
Just enough to put on a smile and escape the summer blues

Family Recipes

Even the best recipes change over time

 

That apple pie Great Aunt Bernie brings every year?

She picks it up from the nearby corner store, puts it in a pie tin, and takes all the credit

But no one ever seems to mind, it gets eaten anyway

 

What about the green bean casserole that Grandpa makes? Oh yes, that nasty thing

Covered in so much cream of mushroom soup

He’s always so proud, so we each take a small scoop and hope for the best

 

And what about Cousin Mike? Well, he only brings himself

He’s uninterested in spending time with the family

Staying for the meal then leaving without a trace

 

One day this will change. Family will pass on, the young will grow up

One day, the goopy casserole and the corner store apple pie will be missing from the table

And one day, a new recipe will appear courtesy of Cousin Mike

Hour 2 Prompt 2. Faith chepchumba.

A LIBRARY DATE.

INGREDIENTS.

Love

Bookmark

Car drive

Coffee and paintings

Library photo shoot.

 

My heart leaps always when I see him

For he is the silver lining in my cloud

Never dark with him, for we are love

And our love makes it marvelous

 

With a new bookmark for me

For my newly founded book

He smiles so wide at me.

 

His maroon car waiting

Door open, I hop in

For a car drive for coffee

 

Brewed, black, dark, strong

Just the way I love,

With the walls full of paintings

Paintings that resonate with us.

 

From the library cafe

The view is beautiful

A camera captures it all

A photoshoot for memories

Of our love, of my love.

 

#2 Right Time To Love

Today is the right time,
To love a little harder.
Now, love is needed more than ever.
It is the time love will no longer for some,
But is craved by everyone.

Today more than ever,
Love is a healer.
Now, sick heart is everywhere,
It is time to be more aware,
Always give love wherever.

Today is the right time,
To see colors in a different light.
Now, love is not just black and white,
It is colorless and right.
Shine your love bright.

Today is the right time,
To hold hands.
Now, love without bound,
It is love not hate,
The world needs to propagate.

Poetry Marathon Submission, #2

A Recipe for Ripened Intellect, Submission #2, Ann WJ White

Life is a stream of books,
stacked in piles to peruse.
Grated science fiction,
mixed with forked dramas,
particle physics discovered in 420BC,
for added flavor.
History, biographies,
romance and other non-fiction,
Twisted about, squeezed.
Varied pages lightly
sautéed with imagination,
juices flowing,
added to mental gymnastics,
with humor sprinkled 
liberally on top.
This recipe 
of life and it's shadows,
served with a healthy
dose of sofa cushions
for holding my body
as my mine leaves my 
consciousness.

Hour 2: Teach Yourself a Lesson Tea

Ingredients:

1 quart of self-doubt
1 bag of self-confidence
a dash of lingering
1 carton of tears of self-pity
1 small packet of recklessness

Procedures:

Place self-doubt in a pan on the back burner, over a medium heat until boiling furiously.  Pour into a mug.
Take one bag of self-confidence and dip it in the boiling self-doubt.
Let steep, while you linger.
Open the packet of recklessness, sprinkling it wildly.  Don’t be afraid of knocking the cup over.
Open carton of tears of self-pity, and add liberally until the cup overflows.
Enjoy hot.  Pour any extra on garden or house plants.

 

Hour 2 (2020)

Recipe for Anarchy

1. Class consciousness
2. Thirst for Freedom
3. Healthy Scepticism
4. Civil Disobedience
5. Love

Mix 1 and 2 in a bowl and let them develop during adolescence. Add 3 and 4 to taste, source from abusive authority figures. Grate in lots of 5, as it binds the other ingredients together. Wrap and store at high temperatures. Ideal for street consumption.

Poem 1 (Hour 1) Qundeel

“My influence, My Lady”

I was nothing
But a particle of matter, living ordinary!

A lady grabbed me to heaven

And poured a something like love

That agitated me to revolve around my existence

Today I am better version and fruitful for others

I wish, I could have hundreds of lives
For ignition of same selfless passion

For some, that lady is mother
Daughter or friend as a pother

I luckily met with the woman of my choice
Who is Everything, I love you my wife

A date with yourself- The recipe

Start with untangling your hair,

Let them fly,

Running along the wind,

As it touches your face,

Add the main ingredient, Freedom.

 

 

Free Yourself,

From the thoughts that make you frown,

From what others might think of you,

From the gaze of strangers.

 

Add in some sass,

Not too much,

Just to fire it up,

Now add lots of you,

Yes You,

The one which hides behind the closet doors,

The one which thinks about her less,

Let her be free.

 

Stir it up with confidence,

Let it simmer a little,

Remember to not add anyone’s company,

This time just you with you,

Remember to break all the rules,

Embark on your own journey,

Time to switch off,

From all the worries…